Sidelined

Long time no blog, eh? I promise to be back soon, but I have been temporarily sidelined with strep. Yep. As an adult. Ugh. The closest I comparision I come up with is to have you imagine being hit by a very large bus, but have no visible injuries. The body hurts everywhere. Sometimes I think even my hair hurts. I can't stay upright for more than a couple of hours.

I will blog about knitting and life... if I live... soon.

Monkeyin' Around

Holy Toledo! Where in the world has the time gone?

Work is keeping me insanely busy. School started with a rush of schedule changes, new enrollments and I spend the majority of my day at school on the computer fixing kids' schedules and making sure my Seniors have what they need to graduate. I go home with tired, aching wrists. Right now I am averaging seeing 19-21 kids per day, and fixing schedules for 17 of them. I can't tell you how many keystrokes that involves. High school is a whole new world. My 9th graders, whom I've known since 7th grade, have been happy to see me. I'm a familiar face in the big, crazy high school.

I got both my kids back to school without incident, and Buddy Bill got his boys off to college fairly smoothly. Maybe now life can settle down. Maybe. Have kids ranging from a junior in college down to fourth grade just doesn't make for a smooth life, you know? Especially with one in junior high right in the middle!

Bill's sweater is getting closer to completion, but it wasn't done by the end of the Olympics. Work got in the way. I just couldn't knit after being on the computer at work all day. Plain and simple. My old wrist braces have come back out to be worn at night. I am on the decrease rows at the top of the sweater, and I have a progress picture to show you, to prove that it's closer to becoming an FO. I haven't knitted on anything else, which is amazing because there are so many things I want to start, despite having many other WIP's to complete!


My much-loved sewing team, Jen and Wendy at Piddleloop, had another shop update not too long ago and I scored the sock monkeys on pogo sticks! Look - monkey butts! heheheheheh Check out the little banana bag tucked inside.


Buddy Bill just had a birthday and we spent this weekend celebrating. Good wine, good food and time together were just what we needed. My gift to him was time at a glass blowing studio to try his hand at making glass art; something he's always wanted to do. He went Friday morning and made a vase and a paperweight with a great artist he's admired for a long time. Happy Birthday, Luv!

Cleveland Rocks!

Things were certainly rockin' at The Jake last night friends! 50,000 fans waving terrible towels madly in the air and cheering wildly made an exciting game even more so. The Tribe needs one more win in this series over Boston and they are headed for the World Series!!

Buddy Bill and I arrived plenty early and walked all the way around the field to see the sights, take in all the yummy smells and let me take pictures. Bill carried the bag with my knitting. He carried our coats. He good-naturedly tolerated the red sheep shoes. Arriving early also gave me time buy the kids a couple of souvenir baseballs, which is what they begged me to bring home for them. This is the view from the outfield, just after we arrived at the park.

Our seats were along the Third Base Line, right up above Kenny Lofton's spot in left field. Kenny was on fire! He caught everything! We also had a birds' eye view of Manny Ramirez, who just couldn't get no lovin' despite having played for the Indians in the past.

There's one moment of the entire evening that stands out, though. It stands out even more than the amazing Seven Run 5th Inning! I can't tell you what inning it was. I can't even tell you who was batting, except that it was someone from Boston. At that moment, I leaned into Bill, seated to my right, and rested my head on his shoulder. Bill turned away from the game and said, "I love you, Sweetie."

Just then, the whole crowd did this:

Bill responded by saying, "See? The entire stadium approves!"

Now, this certainly was not the first time Bill expressed his love for me. I must say, though, it is definitely one of the most memorable, thanks to the incredible timing of the Cleveland crowd.

Finally, to top it all off, before midnight, the home team won.

Yes, indeed. Cleveland rocks!

(I finally crawled into bed at a few minutes before 3:00 AM today. For the record, I did go to work!)

Change

I am a creature of habit. For breakfast I like the same cereal. I drink the same coffee every day. My day has a certain order to it. Now, I wouldn't say I'm obsessive-compulsive, nor would my friends. I can certainly be spontaneous and flexible, but there are just some areas of my life that I like to stay the same. Like my job, for example.

Until this week, I had spent 17 years in seventh grade. I started out as a teacher, and then went back to school for a Master's degree in counseling. The past fourteen years I've been a counselor for seventh graders. I found out in May I would be moving to 8th grade, but not willingly.

I have to say that so far the change has been a pleasant surprise. The building is not totally unfamiliar to me. I started my counseling career in this district in this building, with seventh graders, before moving to another building for 10 years. The building I didn't want to leave. While introducing myself to the staff yesterday I joked that, "everything in education goes in circles, and in that tradition, I am back here where I started." Students and parents have been happy to see me. I had these kids last year. I can call them by name. They're giving me high-fives and hugs today.

Buddy B told me in the Spring, "Sometimes change is good. Keep an open mind about this. I think you will like your new building." Good thing I have smart friends, huh? I am casting on for Cobblestone tonight with Buddy B as the intended recipient; a gift for his support and encouragement. It's not a surprise. He chose the color (Cascade 220, Lichen) and has had to be measured for the sweater. I got gauge on the first try.

There are other changes taking place in my life as well. Happy changes. Exciting personal changes. Maybe life-altering changes. I'll keep you posted on that.